Credit Management: #1 Credit You Owe vs Credits Owed to the Business

Credit Management: #1 Credit You Owe vs Credits Owed to the Business

Think about the last time you ordered food online. You might have paid in advance through your card, but you received a $20 refund because your order got delayed or cancelled. In most apps, refunds don't go into the bank account directly; instead, they're stored as a credit in your food delivery account, ready for your next order.

Imagine a mom-and-pop store at the corner of your street, where you buy things "on tab." You take home items today and promise to settle the bill at the end of the month.

Now, flip that perspective. The same store probably receives goods from its supplier every week, but doesn't pay for them immediately. The supplier allows a few days or even weeks before payment.


InfoThey are more than just promises, more than trust. They are credits.

Credits like these are everywhere in our daily lives. Sometimes we owe them, sometimes they owe us. Moreover, in business, this constant give-and-take of credit plays a critical role in keeping transactions flowing smoothly.

Understanding the Two Sides of Credit 
In every business, credit flows both ways. You extend credit to your customers when you allow them to pay later, and sometimes you owe credit back, as adjustments or refunds. These two sides of credit determine how efficiently your business manages cash flow, customer relationships and revenue recognition.

Let's break them down.

Credits Owed to the Business 
You're extending credit when your business provides goods or services before receiving payments. It's a standard business practice that builds trust and encourages repeat sales, but it also means a portion of your revenue is pending to be collected. This pending amount is your credit owed or accounts receivable.

Some of the common forms of Credit Owed to the business are:

Sales on Credit:

The most common form of credit is sales credit. You deliver the product or service and give the customer a set number of days to pay, say, Net 15 or Net 30.

For example, a freelance designer might deliver a logo package to a client and issue an invoice payable within 10 days. Until payment is made, that amount remains as credit owed to the business.

Recurring or Subscription Billing:

For services that run month after month, invoices are generated periodically, and the payment cycle follows agreed-upon terms. It may be either the start or the end of the month.

Take a SaaS company offering a monthly plan. Each invoice raised at the start of the month gives the customer a set time to complete the payment, making it a recurring credit relationship.

Instalment or Milestone Billing:

Large or ongoing projects may be billed in parts; each payment represents a credit instalment.

For example, a software development firm might bill 40% upfront, 30% after a beta release and 30% after project completion. Each stage involves extending short-term credit until the payment arrives.

Overdue Receivables:

When payments extend beyond the due date, those invoices become overdue and need close follow-up.

For instance, a wholesaler who has multiple clients on credit terms may notice one customer's invoice consistently crosses the 45-day mark, prompting reminders or credit hold decisions.

Credits You Owe 

Now let's flip the perspective.

Sometimes, your business owes customers a credit. This could be because they paid in advance, overpaid, or a transaction needed adjustment. These credits act as a promise, a value the customer can use against future invoices or purchases.

Some of the common forms of Credit You Owe are:

Credit Notes:

This is issued when you need to reverse or adjust part of a billing amount, such as when a customer returns goods or a post-sale discount occurs.

Imagine a retailer who invoices a customer for 100 items but later finds 10 were defective. Instead of issuing a refund, they create a credit note for the value of those 10 items, which the customer can apply to their next purchase.

Overpayment:

When a customer pays more than what's due, the excess is treated as a credit balance for future invoices.

For instance, if a customer's invoice total is $1900 but they transferred $2000, the extra $100 becomes a credit balance that can automatically be adjusted against their next invoice.

Advance Payment:

When a customer prepays, the amount remains a credit until applied against an upcoming service or product delivery.

A good example is a training provider who receives $600 upfront for a workshop scheduled next month. That amount is held as customer credit until the session occurs and the invoice is adjusted.

Balancing the Equation 

Both sides of the credits are equally important.

  1. If the "credit owed to you" side grows too much, your cash flow is weakening.

  2. If the "credit you owe" side isn't correctly managed, you risk misreporting revenue or confusing customers.

A healthy credit management process means,
  • Payment terms are clearly defined.

  • Overdue invoices are tracked and followed up on.

  • Credits and refunds are issued promptly.

  • Use automation to handle reminders, adjustments and reporting.

 When these pieces are in sync, your business operates with confidence, as every transaction is accounted for and every balance is clear.


Meet Zoho Billing 
Credit management becomes much easier when your billing system does the heavy lifting.


Idea
With Zoho Billing, businesses can:
  • Define flexible payment terms at the customer level or invoice level.

  • Track receivables in real time with clear visibility into what's due, overdue or funds collected.

  • Issue credit notes instantly for returns, discounts or adjustments.

  • Apply customer credits automatically against future invoices or renewals.

  • Automate reminders and the dunning process to keep cash flow consistent.

  • Clear reports on what's paid and unpaid, how long a customer takes to pay, and how often it fails.

In this series, we will examine each of these functionalities deeply and explain how they offer visibility and clarity, letting your team focus on growth rather than following up on credits.

 

Notes
Up Next: Setting the Right Payment Terms 



      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020

            Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here's
          • Community Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020

            Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly you
          • Community Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020

            Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate most
          • Introducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020

            Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! ​ Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

                                    Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.
                                  • Collective-booking event not added to all staff calendars

                                    We assign two staff to certain events. When the client books this event, it adds it to one staff calendar (the 'organiser') but not the other. How can I ensure all staff assigned to a collective booking get the event in their calendar? (A side note: it
                                  • Project Management Bulletin: October, 2025

                                    Every need leads to innovation. Project Management tools were developed out of sheer necessity to drive large projects. With wide usage, the specifications grew precise, and so did the refinement. Over years we’ve crafted one of the best project management
                                  • Email Recall Feature In Zoho Mail Which Should Also Work For Outside Organisation Members

                                    Add a feature to recall or undo sending an email within a configurable short time window (e.g., 30 seconds to 2 minutes) after hitting send, similar to Gmail’s undo send. Currently the sent email can not be recall If the recipient is not from within your
                                  • Zoho Sheets saying locked when not locked

                                    Zoho Sheets won't let me add more rows to sheet because it's saying the sheet is locked, but the sheet is not locked. I tried using a different browser but I still have the same issue.
                                  • Identifying and Merging Accounts with Similar (Non-Exact) Names

                                    Hello everyone, I’m aware of the built-in deduplication feature in Zoho CRM that allows merging records with exactly matching values for selected fields. However, I’m running into a situation where our migrated data contains multiple variations of the
                                  • Option for super admin to recover the deleted chats in Zoho Cliq

                                    Currently, in Zoho Cliq, if a user accidentally deletes their chats, there is no option for the Super Admin to recover or view those deleted messages. I believe it would be helpful if Super Admins had a recovery option, perhaps within a certain time frame,
                                  • Zoho CRM iOS app updates: the Homepage, Zoho Survey integration, and support for multiple file uploads in subform

                                    Hello everyone! The Zoho CRM mobile app continues to evolve to bring you a smoother and more powerful CRM-on-the-go experience. We're excited to share some important updates now available in the iOS app. Here's what's new: Homepage support Zoho Survey
                                  • I am trying to integrate my module in sandbox environment to add data via API

                                    I went through the documents and tried to setup the API for adding the module via the api but the problem is the token setup is done on "https://accounts.zoho.in/oauth/v2/token" domain and the bulk write is done on "https://content.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/upload"
                                  • Is anyone else having trouble saving a custom image in their email signature, or is it just me?

                                    When I try to save the image I get an error that says "Operation Failed" I opened a support ticket two weeks ago and received a response that it would be debugged, but it still isn’t working
                                  • Setting up primary mobile number.

                                    Hi Sir Earlier I joined IIFL team and got an organizational email of zoho services. Later i quit and now my account is deactivated with IIFL but i am unable to link my mobile number to my own email id with zoho.
                                  • Add Custom Reports To Dashboard or Home Tab

                                    Hi there, I think it would be great to be able to add our custom reports to the Home Tab or Dashboards. Thanks! Chad
                                  • Account in Quick View Filter

                                    I have a report that I often run against a specific Account. Every time, I have to go into the edit menu and change the Advanced Filter. I would prefer to use the Quick View Filter, but it does not allow me to use the one and only field that makes any
                                  • In arattai received message can't be deleted

                                    The issue has been noticed in following: arattai app (Android) arattai app (Window) arattai web While the message posted by me may be deleted, the ones received from others can't be. The item <Delete> change to <Report> when the message is a received
                                  • Zoho sheet for desktop

                                    Hi is zoho sheets available for desktop version for windows
                                  • Tables for Europe Datacenter customers?

                                    It's been over a year now for the launch of Zoho Tables - and still not available für EU DC customers. When will it be available?
                                  • Guided Conversations - Ticket Creation

                                    Hi there, Using Guided Conversations to Take Customer Data and apply it into a Support Ticket for internal use, Is there a way to take multiple Textual Variables Inputs (A series of questions), and have the answers all appear in the Description of the
                                  • How to send certain invoices for Approval based on condition?

                                    To streamline operations, I need the invoices to go for approval when certain conditions are met. For example, if my staff gives a discount of x amount, it must go for approval. If there is no discount, then the invoice will be approved automatically.
                                  • Unable to continue payment

                                    Hi, I want to make a payment for my email subscription, but I cannot proceed with the payment because my NITKU is invalid. In Indonesia, the NITKU consists of 22 digits, but Zoho only provides 20 digits, causing my NITKU to be invalid. Please help me
                                  • Is there a way to show contact emails in the Account?

                                    I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detail
                                  • Massive spam pretending to come from our address – is this a Zoho security issue?

                                    Hi, We’ve been receiving more and more suspicious emails lately — many of them clearly look like scams. But yesterday, we got an email that appeared to be sent from our own address, which was very concerning. We're starting to wonder if this might be
                                  • LINE Auto Message Connect to Zoho

                                    When I integrated LINE into the CRM, I was prompted to disable “Chat,” “Auto Response,” and “Greeting Messages,” and to enable the webhook. However, since I have already set up some auto-reply features in LINE, including Rich Messages and greeting automation,
                                  • System flaws and lack of response from Zoho

                                    I have had to go on here as no-one is replying to my emails regarding my problem (been 10 days and no email reply) and your chat facility online through your Zoho Books software opens and closes immediately, so not functioning properly. I actually called
                                  • Cant recieve mails

                                    I’m having an issue with my external IMAP account not fetching any emails into Zoho Mail, even though the connection test says “Success”. I can send, if someone sends an email to me. my original directory (home.pl host) recieves it in their portal but
                                  • Zoho Sheet Autofit Data

                                    While using Autofit Data function in Zoho Sheets with Devnagri Maratji or Hindi Fonts, a word or a number, it keeps couple of characters outside the right side border.
                                  • Enhancements to finance suite integrations

                                    Update: Based on your feedback, we’ve updated the capabilities for integration users. In addition to the Estimates module, they can now create, view, and edit records in all the finance modules including Sales Order, Invoices, Purchase Order. We're also
                                  • Edit 'my' Notes only

                                    The permissions around Notes should be more granular, and allow to user to be able to edit the notes he created only. The edit Notes permission is useful as it allows the user to correct any mistakes or add information as needed. However, with this same
                                  • How do I filter contacts by account parameters?

                                    Need to filter a contact view according to account parameter, eg account type. Without this filter users are overwhelmed with irrelevant contacts. Workaround is to create a custom 'Contact Type' field but this unbearable duplicity as the information already
                                  • Job Alerts for Candidates

                                    hi All, I have 2 questions relating to sharing job details with candidates. 1. is there a way to notify candidates that meet certain criteria of current jobs available? eg. I run a candidate search, and identify 50 candidates that might be suitable. Can
                                  • Add multiple users to a task

                                    When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman
                                  • Enhancing Task Accuracy: Automatically notify the owners upon Task duplication.

                                    Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. The requirement
                                  • How to export all line-item descriptions for a specific item in Zoho Books?

                                    I am trying to audit a specific item (“Item X”) that has been invoiced multiple times with different line-level descriptions. Here’s the situation: I am using Zoho Books (Professional). Each invoice may contain the same item but with different descriptions
                                  • Show/ hide specific field based on user

                                    Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it just
                                  • Where are Kanban swimlanes

                                    So i've been playing with Zoho Projects Kanban view a bit more. It appears that task lists are being used as the Kanban columns, which makes sense from the implementation point of view but not the logical one.  Kanban columns are statuses that a task can flow through, while a task list has been a logical way to organize related tasks and relate them to a mislestone. In other words a task in a particular task can go through several stages while remaining in the same task list. After doing some research
                                  • Tip 19: How to display images in Pages using ZML snippets

                                    Hi folks, We're back with another tip on how to use Zoho Markup Language (ZML) to create interactive pages in Zoho Creator. You can use ZML snippets to add various kinds of components to your pages and structure them in meaningful ways. That's not all, though—using ZML you can ensure your application is automatically compatible with all kinds of devices without any inconsistencies. We often get questions from users about how to invoke Deluge scripts within ZML code. Here's a simple use case for adding
                                  • Can zoho swign format block text spacing automatically when prefilled from zoho crm?

                                    I'm sending zoho sign template from zoho crm, so that zoho crm pre-populates most fields. I have existing pdf documents that i am having signed. I have no ability to change the pdf documents, they are standardized government forms. The problem I am facing
                                  • Forced Logouts - Daily and More Frequent

                                    In the last month or so, I've been getting "power logged out" of all of my Zoho apps at least daily, sometimes more frequently. This happens in the same browser session on the same computer, and I need to re-login to each app separately after this happens.
                                  • Zoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field

                                    I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.
                                  • Reference lookup field values in Client script

                                    hello all, I'm using a "ZDK.Apps.CRM.Products.searchByCriteria" function call, which is returning the matching records correctly; however, one of the fields is a lookup field which I need the associated data. I believe there is a way to get this data
                                  • In App Auto Refresh/Update Features

                                    Hi,    I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users.   The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps.    I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With the
                                  • Next Page